Thames Water has been crippled by huge debts. Photograph: Sam Oaksey/Alamy
Lenders say a ‘full return to legal, regulatory and environmental compliance’ under new rescue plan would not be completed until at least 2035-2040
Thames Water may not fully comply with rules on pollution of England’s waterways for as long as 15 years, according to a new plan by creditors who are scrambling to avoid the utility being forced into government administration.
The creditors who in effect own Thames Water have said they will commit to paying fines for pollution, as well as writing off more of their loans and investing more in the company, in new proposals published on Thursday.
However, the creditors also said that “a full return to legal, regulatory and environmental compliance” under their plan would not be completed until at least the 2035-2040 period, raising the prospect of sewage levels above legal limits in some places for at least a decade. They will argue for further leniency on fines from the regulator, Ofwat, during that period, and that it will be impossible for the company to make upgrades across London and south-east England more quickly because of the scale of the work needed after years of neglect.
The group of financial institutions, under the new London & Valley Water holding company, has been locked in talks with Ofwat since May over acceptable terms for the hugely complex restructuring of Britain’s biggest water company.
Thames Water has been crippled by huge debts built up over two decades by owners who have been criticised for paying out dividends without investing enough in its leaking pipes and malfunctioning treatment works. That contributed to widespread public outrage over the level of sewage in Britain’s rivers and seas.
April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
[Insane Fascists] Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump agreed to a 20-point plan that involves a temporary Palestinian governing body for Gaza, overseen by a board including Tony Blair. (AP/Reuters)
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Foreign billionaires could be installed on a board that governs all aspects of life in Gaza while Palestinians have little input, according to a draft plan seen by the ABC.
A leaked document has revealed a possible structure for the so-called “Gaza International Transitional Authority” (GITA) which could take temporary control of the strip once the war ends.
The proposal, seen by the ABC, was drafted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a thinktank led by the former British prime minister.
The working document has since been updated and has informed, at least in part, US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the occupied Gaza Strip. The document details what might be in store for the people of Gaza and who could be controlling their lives in the near future.
Under the plan, GITA would have a hierarchical structure led by an international board that “exercises supreme strategic and political authority” and a chairman who leads the entire operation as “senior political executive”.
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At least one Palestinian representative would be on the board provided they were “qualified”.
The document did not say what qualifications were needed but did say the Palestinian representative could “potentially” come from the business or security sector.
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Plan ‘will fail’, critics say
Critics who have seen the draft plan say it does not put Palestinian people first.
John Na’em Snobar, a former diplomat in Egypt and Pakistan, and a Palestinian Christian, said “the people who are sitting around the table are motivated by capital interests”.
Mr Snobar said trade and investment in Gaza was a positive thing, but questioned: “Who is looking out for Palestinian interests in that scenario?”
He also criticised Trump’s 20-point plan saying: “No Palestinian leader I am aware of was consulted … in that sense the great lesson of the Abraham Accords was not learnt. You cannot have peace with Palestinians without Palestinians at the table.”
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK’s air force has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech to the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool, September 30, 2025
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The flag-waving and standing ovations point to a rigged conference — with many delegates “deluded,” as one speaker from the floor at the Morning Star’s packed fringe meeting put it. Labour has become a hostile environment for the left — many socialist MPs stayed away, and the defeats inflicted on the government — such as over Palestine — were down to affiliated unions, not constituency party representatives.
Inside the hall many seemed to think compulsory digital ID cards were a brilliant policy, though it is almost impossible to find anyone who supports it in the real world. On the streets of Liverpool few had anything good to say about the party, and the mood of the protests at the conference gates — both the far right’s sizeable Sunday rally and the demonstrations for worthwhile causes such as opposing cuts to disability benefits — was grimmer and angrier than in previous years. There is real hatred for the government from the right, from the left, and among people who do not consider themselves political.
The disconnect is a product of Starmer’s most consistent political attribute — authoritarianism. Here is a leader who, unable to persuade Labour members to support his march to the right, used suspensions and expulsions to force it on the party, banning constituency parties even from debating contentious issues. Rule by fear has been extended to the country now he is in power — with mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators and a bid to decapitate the peace movement by charging its most prominent leaders. His withdrawal of the Labour whip from MPs who dare to stand up for their principles shows an unprecedented intolerance for dissent.
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Campaigners take part in a Stop Rosebank emergency protest outside the U.K. Government building in Edinburgh, after the controversial Equinor Rosebank North Sea oil field was given the go-ahead Wednesday, September 27, 2023. (Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)
Under pressure Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged support to the oil and gas sector through the planned North Sea strategy.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the upcoming North Sea strategy will be published before the Autumn Budget.
In her speech at the Labour Party conference she highlighted that “I talked about homegrown energy, and that is renewables, but it is also in the North Sea as well” before adding she is “not a zealot of green energy”.
Meanwhile, energy secretary Ed Miliband is gearing up to use his speech on Wednesday to attack a “global network of right-wing billionaires” looking to stop net zero developments, and push for unity across the clean energy sector.
“We are going to be reliant on oil and gas for many years to come,” Reeves added, citing a preference to use oil and gas from the UK rather than importing from overseas.
“I am really committed to boosting our energy security, because increasingly energy security is national security, so investing in homegrown energy is really important,” she added.
dizzy: Looks like the Labour Party are shitting on their climate commitments.
Greenpeace activists display a billboard during a protest outside Shell headquarters on July 27, 2023 in London. (Photo: Handout/Chris J. Ratcliffe for Greenpeace via Getty Images)Experienced climbers scale a rock face near the historic Dumbarton castle in Glasgow, releasing a banner that reads “Climate on a Cliff Edge.” One activist, dressed as a globe, symbolically looms near the edge, while another plays the bagpipes on the shores below. | Photo courtesy of Extinction Rebellion and Mark RichardsNeo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
One critic expressed astonishment that Hegseth “summoned all the US generals from around the globe at great expense to fat shame them.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday sparked instant ridicule among critics for delivering a speech in front of American generals in which he railed against “dudes in dresses,” “climate change worship,” and “fat” soldiers.
During the address, which US military leaders around the world were summoned to attend in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth rattled off a long list of culture war grievances that he claimed had weakened the American military, which he asserted is forced to follow “stupid rules of engagement” that limit members of the armed forces. Hegseth has spent much of his tenure taking steps to remake the military into what he has said will be a more aggressive force, including by firing top lawyers.
Among many topics, Hegseth, a former Fox Newshost, took aim at some American soldiers’ physical appearances.
“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops,” Hegseth fumed at one point. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals.”
Hegseth also said that the Trump administration had moved to systematically “to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department.”
What this means in practice, Hegseth elaborated, was “no more identity months, [diversity, equity, and inclusion] offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship.”
“We are done with that shit!” he emphasized.
Elsewhere in his address, Hegseth announced he was “overhauling” the inspector general process that has been used to investigate allegations of misconduct against military officers. According to Hegseth, the current process has put “complainers, ideologues, and poor performers in the driver’s seat.”
“No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complaints, no more smearing reputations, no more endless waiting, no more legal limbo, no more sidetracking careers, no more walking on eggshells!” Hegseth exclaimed.
US President Donald Trump, who spoke at Quantico after Hegseth’s address, called the defense secretary’s speech “great,” even as it was being pilloried as “embarrassing” and “ridiculous” far and wide online.
Watch the complete speeches by both Hegseth and Trump.
New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie described the speech as “some of the most loser shit I have ever seen in my life” and he marveled that Hegseth had hauled in military leaders away from their jobs to watch it.
“Can you imagine sitting in that audience as a three-star flag officer—decades in the service, multiple post-grad degrees, and a virtually unequaled level of command expertise—and being forced to watch this dunderheaded dry drunk give an off-brand Jordan Belfort seminar?” Bouie asked.
Pamela Herd, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, also asserted that senior military personnel likely felt insulted watching Hegseth’s speech.
“I just can’t get over the lack of shame—the unabashed confidence,” she said. “Can you imagine what those generals are thinking being lectured to by someone so inexperienced and incompetent?”
Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver, expressed astonishment that Hegseth “summoned all the US generals from around the globe at great expense to fat shame them.”
American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick argued that Hegseth would open up US defense policy to significant vulnerabilities if he were to move forward with banning the American military from discussing the impacts of climate change.
“Climate change may be the single greatest geopolitical wild card of the next century—a reshaping of countries’ agricultures, economies, and even literal geography,” he wrote. “And here a guy who never rose above the rank of Major says the U.S. military shouldn’t even consider it. We are screwed.”
Attorney Max Kennerly took aim at Hegseth’s comments on military service members’ physical fitness, which he said showed a deep ignorance of how the modern military fights wars.
“I can’t get over how the right-wing doesn’t understand modern militaries, with the majority serving non-combat roles,” he explained. “You think the best IT security and logistics personnel spends two hours in the gym every day to look like the cast of 300? They’re at furry conventions and model train shows.”
Following Hegseth’s speech, the president’s lengthy address included defenses of his policies, including his decision to deploy federal troops to US cities to fight what he called “the enemy within.” Trump has ordered federal troops to cities including Washington, DC; Chicago; and Portland to remove unhoused people from the streets, arrest immigrants, and fight anti-fascist protesters.
“We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” said Trump.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech to the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool, September 30, 2025
